How to: Play MapleStory Using VirtualBox 4.1.x (and above)

With the recent updates to the MapleStory (GMS) game client (v.102 and above), many new security features have been introduced with the expressed intent of preventing players from using multiple clients, virtualizing, and other things. This guide will show you how to escape those restrictions by playing MapleStory in a virtual version of the Windows operating system. This technique has been verified to work with versions v.102, v.103, and v.104 of the MapleStory (Global) game client.

Minimum Requirements

(Optional) Processor that supports hardware-level virtualization.

At least 2 GB of physical memory (RAM).

At least 20 GB of hard drive space available.

A graphics card that support 3D acceleration.

If you are unsure if your video card supports 3D acceleration: Open the Run window ([Win Key] + [R]) and type ‘dxdiag’ and press [ENTER].

(Recommended) Installation of all current drivers, that work, for your hardware.

Software Requirements

Installation of the latest DirectX runtime (If you do not have the DirectX runtime installed, or want to upgrade it, you can download and run the DirectX End User Runtime Web Installer here).

Instructions

Creating the Virtual Machine

Open VirtualBox.

Click on ‘New’.

Use the ‘Create New Virtual Machine’ wizard to create a new virtual machine.

On the ‘VM Name and OS Type’ page, select ‘Microsoft Windows’ as the Operating System; and select the appropriate version of Windows based on your install disc (i.e. If your install disc is for a version of Windows XP, then you would select ‘Windows XP’ as the version).

On the ‘Memory’ page, allocate at least 512 MB of RAM for the virtual machine. This is the amount of RAM that will be taken from your computer and dedicated to the virtual machine while its running; when the virtual machine is not active, that RAM will be returned to your computer.

On the ‘Virtual Hard Disk’ page, check ‘Start-up Disk’ and select ‘Create new hard disk'; After clicking ‘Next’, use the ‘Create New Virtual Disk’ wizard to create a virtual hard disk that is at least 12 GB in size (I recommend that you select ‘Fixed size’ under ‘Virtual disk storage details’, it’s faster).

On the ‘Select Installation Media’ page, select the drive that contains your Windows install disc; for most people, this will be the D:\ drive (screenshot).

Complete the ‘First Run Wizard’.

The virtual machine will start and you must install Windows on the virtual machine, in the same manner you would a physical computer.

A virtual machine simulates a real computer in almost every aspect. You will need to install Windows on the virtual machine the same way you would on a normal computer. This includes running Windows Update.

After you have installed Windows (and all necessary updates) on the virtual machine: install VirtualBox Guest Additions on the virtual machine by selecting Devices > Install Guest Additions (or [Right CTRL] + [D]). This step must be done in Safe Mode.

To boot the virtual machine in Safe Mode: run msconfig. Under the BOOT.INI tab, check /SAFE, and click ‘OK’. (To undo this later, repeat this step, and uncheck /SAFE).

Preventing Detection of VirtualBox

These steps must be done from inside your virtual machine.

Method 1 (Make registry changes manually, you will need to do this at each logon)

Themida (and most system that detect virtualization) attempts to use the system registry to determine if the current environment is a virtual one. This technique is a lazy one, and thus why it is so easy to circumvent.

First, we’re copying the sub-key (and all the keys/values under it) HKLM\HARDWARE\ACPI\DSDT\VBOX__ to the new key HKLM\HARDWARE\ACPI\DSDT\NOBOX__.

Finally, we change the value of ‘SystemBiosVersion‘ located under the sub-key HKLM\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System to ‘NOBOX - 1‘ (It’s original value will have been ‘VBOX - 1‘).

The last line, exits the script.

Run HideVirtualBox.bateach time you log in to your virtual machine (VirtualBox resets certain registry values each time the virtual machine is started). The script will, as the name suggests, hide VirtualBox from games protected with Themida/WinLicense. This includes most Nexon games, the most popular one being MapleStory.

You can download the MapleStory (Global) game client directly, here. Or use the Nexon-provided MapleStory Downloader (download). In my experience, if you’re on a broadband connection, a direct download is faster.

Install the MapleStory game client.

Playing MapleStory

Start the game as you would normally. MapleStory will no longer detect that you’re running the game client in a virtual machine. You can also multi-client, running an instance of MapleStory on your computer, and one in your virtual machine.

Your virtual machine will likely execute very fast, but MapleStory may be occasionally laggy in the virtual machine due to your bandwidth. I recommend you set the virtual machine’s version of MapleStory to use the ‘Fast’ settings from the game’s System settings dialog.

Hi, I’ve done everything stated here, but each time I try to run Maplestory in the VirtualMachine, I end up with error code: -2147467259 (Unsepcifed error). Google searches revealed that this is usuallya problem with the registry values… Help please!

markhanultra

December 11, 2011 at 4:41 pm

Brian, that error usually occurs for MapleStory inside VirtualBox when it cannot load the correct display drivers or Direct3D layer. Make sure you have the most recent version of DirectX installed on your computer; make sure you’ve installed VirtualBox Guest Additions inside your virtual machine; and then make sure you have the most recent version of DirectX installed on your virtual machine.

Worked, also this is how i solved the error -21 bla bla bla, went on safe mode, uninstalled guest additions becouse i had installed it without the 3d option, and if you want to install that option you go to safe mode.
On safe mode i clicked and nothing happend but the iso (yea the guest addition is an iso inside vbox) was mounted so i looked for the setup file (the one with the shortest name vboxguest bla bla) and it got installed.
Maple runs takes forever to start, then when i try to log or do anyting vbox just shuts down -_- now wath?. Vmware was same ass slow but it didnt closed it.
Let me know how to fix this ill post this same question on Sleepywood.

markhanultra

December 12, 2011 at 8:14 pm

Make sure you allocate the max (128MB) video memory to your virtual machine (and that your graphics card is powerful enough for that). MapleStory is a bit slow when virtualized but it all depends on how powerful your own computer actually is. So play with the settings of the VM and see what gives you the best speeds.

Unfortunately I can’t get it to work. I get to the part where I can select a character and type in my PIC, then the screen fades to black and loads (?) forever. I let it sit for about 15 minutes twice before giving up. Oh well.

Even when installing the Guest Additions in safe mode and ticking the 3D option, I get this: error code : -2147221000 (DLL for class not found). I have installed the latest Direct X per your guide, but nothing works. I checked Direct X components in dxdiag and found two DLLs that had errors:

I think this is the problem, but how do I fix it? I tried reinstalling Guest Additions, but the above DLL issue persists. If I uninstall Guest Additions, the DLL problem is fixed, but MS still will not work.

Did everything listed here. I can get the game to load, login, and char select. The screen whites out like usual when loading, music goes from character select music to the overworld music for about 2 seconds, and then it closes with no warning or notification.

However, I got to run Maplestory but I can’t play it past the PIC entry. After that, Maple is just stuck on a black screen.

Common problems I encountered while following this walkthrough were :

error code: -2147467259 ( Unspecifed error )
— forgot to install Direct3D in Safe Mode when adding Guest Additions
— also important to install WinUpdates but it didnt cause much of a problem if it wasnt installed.

error code: 11001 ( no such host is known )
— depends which is your default web browser. I installed Google Chrome and used that to log on instead of IE7. Maplestory made IE7 its ‘host’ browser, thats why I got this error when I logged in using Chrome.

You can Log in but cant Play
— self explanatory. I made my RAM 3GB, Video is 128MB and my HD to a fixed 50GB. 3D and 2D acceleration were enabled. Im not sure if this tutorial was also meant to work on a laptop, but I used those settings.

Well, I got it to work the other day by increasing the amount of ram to 1.5GB and playing in fullscreen mode. I dropped the amount of ram down to 1GB and it still works fine. A little laggy, but it works. For some reason, windows mode doesn’t work (stuck on black screen soon after PIC entry). Try fullscreen mode!

Unfortunately, nothing’s working for me. Both before and after going through everything on this guide (as well as those on other forums), I’ve been getting the “We are unable to connect to the login server, due to a server check, a firewall block or other network issues. Please check the MapleStory homepage as well as your firewall settings” error every time. I even turned my firewall off to avoid getting this error, so I presume it has something to do with running on the virtual machine.

When I try to install the guest additions in safe mode I click devices and then install but nothing happens. I tried this without safe mode and it came up fine but then I couldn’t go any further since it told me I must be in safe mode in order to have the directx. I have downloaded the latest directx and I am sure that I have all of the other requirements. please help.

Hello. I know this guide is old however i followed all the instructions. The game downloaded fine but when it gets to the last part of the patch an error pops up telling me the game isnt for windows. The error is listed as an Image error. I have the latest version of DirectX and everything

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